Grapple for sunken ships



July 23, 1929. E. c. JACOBSON GRAPPLE FOR SUNKEN SHIPS Filed April 9, 1928 Fig. 5.

atbozwag 1 z n Q x F "an" b y o TU I c F e .m E 0 I F 2 2 ZE EE Patented July 23,1929. I, 1,721,859

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIVIER C. JACOBSON, OF ROY, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO ALFRED A. HENN AND ON E-FOURTH TO. LILY REICHMAN, BOTH OF'TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

GRAPPLE FOR SUN KEN SHIPS.

Application filed April 9,1928. Serial No. 268,517.

This invention relates to devices for raisparts in the position when sliding down the ing sunken ships and especially to devices attachment on the hull; Fig. 8 is a similar for locating the position of the wreck and for view showing the dogs in gripping engageattaching thereto a grapple whereby it may ment with the said attachment; Fig. 9 is an 5 be raised. The objects of my invention are, elevation of the upper end of the said hull 55 first, to provide a suitable means, perattachment, showing its connection to the manently attached to the ship hull, whereby light guiding line, and showing the grapple the hull may be raised when sunk; second, to being lower-ed down the guiding line; and provide a light extension to said means, with Fig. 10 is a'section of the grapple, with the 10 floating buoy or raft mounted thereon, wheregripping dogs removed therefrom. Similar 60 by the wreck may be located; and third, to numerals of reference refer to similar parts provide a grapple means adapted to be guided throughout the several views. to said raising means on the ship by said light The main problems in salvaging sunkenv extension thereof, and to grip said raising ships are, first, the location of the wreck, and,

means, and including suitable apparatus second, the attachment thereto of suitable 65 whereby the ship may be raised. Other ob raising tackle. jects are to provide an improved form of Referring to the drawings, it will be seen grapple, which may be quickly opened up to that I have solved both of these problems with connect it to the guiding means, and which the apparatus illustrated therein. It is to be will slide freely down said guiding means, understood that, though the illustration shows 70 and down said raising means, and which will only one such apparatus applied to the ship, it firmly grip said raising means when it, the is not intended to limitit to any particular grapple, is raised thereon, but will not grip number but that as many similar appliances said guiding means if raised before it reaches as are needed for the purpose will be provided,

the raising means; a further object is to im- 1n such places thereon as is desired, and that 75 prove the gripping means on said grapple, they will be used in cooperation to elfect the whereby the strain of the gripping action is complete salvaging of the wreck. transferred through the gripping dogs direct The ship hull 1 is, therefore, provided with to the grapple body, without passing through a short heavy cable-2, suitably and permanentthe pivots of said dogs. A further object is ly attached to the hull framing in such man- 80 to provide a device which is simple in its ner as to reduce the strain thereon as much as construction, cheap to make, and effective in possible. This short cable 2 may usually'be laid on the deck, out of the way, and has a I attain these and other objects by the devery long light line 3 permanently attached vices, mechanisms, and arrangements illusto its end. This light line 3 may be coiled on 5 trated in the accompanying drawings, in a drum, or otherwise stowed, and has aloop whi h; V 4 at its end. A buoy or raft 5 is stored on Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are diagrammatic Views the deck of the ship 1, adjacent the apparatus, showing the several stages in raising a sunken and the light line'3 is attached thereto adja 40 ship, Fig. 1 showing the ship as sunk with the cent the said looped end 4. Thus it will be 90 floating buoy indicating its position; Fig. 2 seen that, whenthe ship 1 sinks, the buoy or, shows the grapple being attached to the guide raft '5 will rise from thedeck and carry the line; Fig. 3 shows the grapple being lowered end of the line 3 up to the surface of the sea down the guide line to the ship; and Fig. 4 (Fig. 1), it being understood that a sufiicient shows the ship being raised by the grapple length of such line-3'is providedto reach the as engaging the attachment on the hull; Fig. 5 surface of the sea from'any depth onthe usual is a perspective View of the grapple; Fig. 6 course'of the ship. Thus the buoys or rafts 5 is an elevation of the inner surface of a part will make an effective marker from which thereof with the grapple dogs removed theresalvaging operations may be conducted. 1

' from; Fig. 7 is a similar View showingfthe As soon, therefore, as the ship owner is advised as to which of his vessels has been sunk he knows the number and size of grappling apparatus to send to the site marked by such buoys, one grappling apparatus being provided for each such raft 5. On the arrival of this salvagingfieet, the first step taken is to pull upward on the light line 3 until it is evident that the slack has been substantially taken therefrom (Fig. 2). Then the wrecker 6, which may be any form of floating vessel, and which carries the grapple apparatus, raising cable, and operating machinery thereon, is brought to the raft 5 and the grapple 7 hereinafter described, is lowered therefrom to the raft 5. The grapple 7 is then opened to admit the line 3 therein, and then is bolted closed thereon. After it has thus been mounted on the line 3, the grapple 7 is lowered by its own'heax y cable 8 (Fig.8) from the vessel 6, and by the suitable machinery thereon, while the light line 3 is kept taut, in order to 1 guide the grapple 7 to the cable 2, until the said grapple 7 passes over the joint between the main fixed short cable 2 and the guide line 3. This point may be readily ascertained by periodically reversing the movement of the grapple 7 on the line 3 sincethe gripping apparatus therein will notclamp on the light line 8 (Fig. 9) and therefore the strain on the cable 8 will not be increased until-the grapple 7 has reached the cable 2. hen'this point has thus been reached by the grapple 7, it is then lowered a sufficient additional distance to be sure that the cable 2 has passed entirely through it, and then the cable 8 may. be raised by the machinery on the vessel 6 and, in so doing, the grapple 7 grips the cable 2 and raises the ship 1 thereby.

. Referring to Fig. 9 it will be seen that the joint between the heavy cable'2' and the light cable 3 is formed by a long gradual cone 9, which insures that the cable 2 willproperly thread itself through the grapple 7, as it is passed thereover.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the grapple 7 comprises two heavyplates lOand 11, hinged together at 12, on one edge, and secured together by a bolt 13 near the other edge. A complementary pair of vertical grooves 14, run upward on the two contiguous faces of thesaid plates.l0 and 11, thus forming a single passage, extending from end to end, adapted to pass freely over the large heavy cable 2 mounted on the ship hull 1. The twoparts 10 and 11 are each provided with a heavy trunnion or pin 15, extending from their outer faces, on which a pair of supporting links 16 are mounted, said links 16 being looped around the loop 17 formed in the end of the heavy hoisting cable 8.

The contiguous faces of the two parts 10 and 11 of the grapple are also provided with complementary recesses 18,extending across the said parts 10 and 11 and together forming chambers or slots 10) on each side of the central vertical cable groove 14. The lower sides of these recesses 18 are provided with a step-down or shoulder 19, slightly removed from but adjacent to and on each side of the central cable groove 14. Pivot holes or recesses 20 are also provided in the vertical walls of the said recesses 18.

Any number of these recesses 18 may be provided, one above the other, but I prefer to use four of them as illustrated in the drawings.

A pair of clamping or gripping dogs 21 are mounted, one on each side of the cable groove 14, in the recesses 18. Each such dog 21 is provided with a head 22 adapted to engage the cable and to cooperate with the head of the op-. posite dog to firmly grip or clamp the cable 2 between them (Fig. 8) when the grapple 7 is raised in relation to the cable 2, but to permit said cable 2 to pass freely between them when the grapple-7 is loweredover the said cable 2. Each head 22 is provided with a shoulder or step 23 adapted to engage the shoulder or step 19 when it is down in its gripping position (Fig. 8) whereby the gripping strain is transferred directly from the heads 22 to both of the parts lOand 11 of the grapple without straining the pivot-sof the said dogs.

The dogs 21 are pivoted in the recesses 18 by suitable pivots mounted in the above described recesses 20 in the vertical walls of the recesses 18. i The heads 22 of the dogs are shaped in the usual manner whereby they eX- tend further into the cable groove 14 when they arepulled downward about-their pivots than when they are pulled upward thereon (Figs. 8 and 7). 7

Thus it will be seen that my apparatus provides a means of locating the wreck by the floating rafts 5 attached thereto through the light lines 3, and that these same lines 7 not connected directly to the wreck but through the. short length 3 of heavy cable 2 permanently attached thereto; also, that the said light line 8 forms an effective guiding means whereby the grapple is led to the wreck and is enabled to grip it in the prescribed manner; also that the heavy cable required for lifting the wreck is not carried by the raft, which-would require a very large raft, but by the wrecking vessel, and is brought to the wreck only as desired, th ereby greatly reducing the cost of the equipment for an owner of, several ships, since the same cables would be required for all his vessels of. a similar size. i v I v It will be understood that'many changes may be made in the details of this invention without departing from the ideas thereof set forth in the'appended claim,

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim is i A grapple for sunken ships comprising a short heavy hull cable permanently attached adapted to clamp the cable between them 10 When said plates are raised; a hoisting cable; and independent links connecting the end of said hoisting cable to each said plate, where by said plates may be separated to admit a cable into said groove Without disconnecting 15 them from said hoisting cable.

ELMER C. J ACOBSON. 

